D 570 
.8 

■ C8 m 
Copy 1 




Mital Edge, Inc. 2007 FAT. 



D 570 
.8 

.C8 U4 
Copy 1 



IDLENESS AIDS THE ENEMY 



STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

State Council of Defense 

CHARLESTON 




REPORT OF SECRETARY 

ON THE OPERATION OF THE 

COMPULSORY WORK LAW 

FOR THE YEAR ENDING 
JUNE 19, 1918 



TAKING THE SLACK OUT OF SLACKERS 



0. or i»» 

MAY t5 1919 



I] 510 



STATE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 



EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 

John J. Cornwell, Governor, Chairman Wm. S. Johnson, Treasurer 

Houston G. Young, Sec'y of State, Secretary M. P. Shawkey, Supt. of Schools 
John S. Darst, Auditor E. T. England, Attorney General 

Jas. H. Stewart, Commissioner of Agriculture 



ADVISORY COUNCIL 

C. P. Snow, Huntington, Vice Chairman Lynn S. Hornor, Clarksburg 

D. A. Arnold, Keyser J. W. Scott, Wheeling 

T. C. Atkeson, Buffalo W. C. McConaughey, Parkersburg 

H. O. Aleshire, Huntington G. O. Nagle, Wheeling 

G. H. Caperton, Charleston Dr. J. E. Rader, Huntington 

Mrs. Jos. G. Cochran, Parkersburg William Rogers, Fairmont 

Dr. John Lee Coulter. Morgantown C. A. Short, Shinnston 

Howard Gore, Clarksburg 



J. V. Sullivan, Secretary, Charleston 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 

Sept. 20, 1918. 

To Hon. Jno. J. Cornwell, Chairman, and the Members of the 
State Council of Defense: 

The West Virginia Legislature, at the second extraordinary 
session. May 14-26, 1918, enacted a compulsory work law, a statute 
designed to prevent idleness and vagrancy during the period of the 
war. It was the first legislation of this character enacted by any 
State of the Union and was an expression from the legislative branch 
of the government defining the moral duty of those able-bodied 
citizens of the State who were not subject to the operation of the 
selective service law. It was the aim of the Legislature by this 
enactment to compel every male citizen who was physically able, 
between the ages of 16 and 60 years, to contribute not only to the 
support of himself and those dependent upon him, but also to the 
support of the men who were called into the service of the Nation. 

This act of the Legislature, which has since been popularly 
designated as the Idleness and Vagrancy Act, was passed on May 
19th and became effective thirty days after passage. 

The State Council of Defense will recall that in September, 1917, 
I made a report to your honorable body, covering the operation of 
the act for a period of two months, showing a total number of 
arrests of 183 in 25 towns and cities out of 54 municipalities which 
reported as requested. 

At the expiration of one year from the date the statute became 
effective I made another canvass of the municipalities of the State 
for the purpose of securing information relative to the enforcement 
of the act. I have secured reports from 143 cities and towns out of 
203 incorporated municipalities showing 811 arrests have been 
made in that period of time. These figures do not include, except 
in one or two instances, the arrests made by justices of the peace. 

SLACKERS FORCED TO WORK 

In seeking this information from the municipal authorities, I also 
requested them to estimate the number of loafers who were forced 
to engage in some lawful and useful occupation for fear of arrest 
under the provision of this act. From 103 cities and towns I 
received estimates aggregating 2,705 persons. The Chairman of 
the State Council will recall that in his message to the war session 
of the Legislature he recited that a police census taken of the 



unemployed showed an amazing number of men who were idle. 
These arrests and those who were forced to seek employment 
confirm the disclosures made by that census taken at the outbreak 
of the war. 

While requesting reports from the various municipal authorities 
I also solicited the opinion of the Mayors of these cities and towns 
concerning their personal opinion of the act. Without a single 
exception there was a unanimity of opinion that the legislation was 
of a most important character, many declaring that it was the best 
law ever enacted by the State and many others advocating the 
permanent retention of the law on the statute books. 

Before setting forth in detail the reports from these municipali- 
ties, permit me to say that a vigorous effort has been made to have 
the local peace officers enforce this statute. In response to an 
appeal from the Governor of the State the newspapers gave liberal 
space to demands for the enforcement of the act, while letters were 
mailed from this office to every peace officer in West Virginia and 
to the individual members of the County Councils of Defense, 
reciting the necessity that existed for every man to be engaged in a 
lawful and useful occupation. 

An opinion from the Attorney General in which he stated that 
it was the duty of all peace officers, such as Mayors and Justices 
of the Peace to enforce this statute without waiting for citizens to 
initiate complaints, dispelled jLhe doubt that existed in the minds of 
many of the officials in the smaller and more remote localities that 
they were without jurisdiction to try offenders unless some citizen 
stepped forward and swore to a complaint. Another opinion by the 
Attorney General, showing that the burden of proof rested upon 
the alleged offender to show that he had worked the required thirty- 
six hours per week, has also been a factor in securing more uniform 
enforcement of the act. 

ECONOMIC VALUE OF LAW 

From an economic standpoint the enactment of the compulsory 
work law has been a signal success. It has paid, many times over, 
the cost of the special session of the Legislature which enacted it. 
Heretofore, I have advised you that 811 persons were arrested and 
2,705 persons had engaged in lawful employment for fear of arrest. 
This is a total of 3,516 persons who have gone to work. Taking |500 
as their average annual compensation in one year these former 
idlers have earned $1,758,000. This is, indeed, a low estimate of 
the wealth created by the operation of the statue, for I am convinced 
that at least 5,000 persons in the State have been forced to find 
employment which would increase this newly created wealth or 
earning ca'pacity to $2,500,000. 

Although the statute has not been enforced in some of the mining 
communities with the zeal that should mark the work of the local 
officers in time of war it has been a factor in the prosecution of the 
war insofar as it has tended to increase the production of coal by 
keeping those miners who are disposed to remain idle at their em- 
ployment for at least thirty-six hours per week. 



6 



On July 2, 1918, the State Council of Defense adopted a resolution 
requiring employers of labor to report weekly the names and 
addresses of their employes who failed to work the required thirty- 
six hours per week. More than 3,500 letters were mailed out from 
this office to those who had been reported for failure to work the 
thirty-six hours required by the act, reciting the necessity for 
increased coal production and requiring the reported employe tO'' 
file here his reason for absence from employment. Never before 
have I realized that the human family was afflicted with so many 
boils as these slackers reported, while the belief that had existed 
in my mind that smallpox had succumbed to modern science, was. 
entirely dissipated by the explanations I received. Many of those 
reported, of course, were idle for legitimate reasons. 

SIMILAR ACTS IN OTHER STATES 

It may be interesting for the Council to know that since the 
enactment of the West Virginia law, similar statutes have been 
enacted in Maryland, Kansas, Minnesota, South Dakota and New 
Jersey, while the Council of Canada made idleness a crime by an 
order in Council promulgated on April 4, 1918. President Wilson 
has also asked all the States to enact similar legislation. 

Hon. W. S. John, of Monongalia County, member of the House 
.of Delegates, who framed the law, in a letter to the Secretary says, 
"the Dominion of Canada has placed its law solely upon the ground 
that every able-bodied man owes a useful and productive service, 
regardless of the social duty of caring for dependents. Our law 
embraces both ideas." 

Some of the larger cities of the State have been lax in the enforce- 
ment of this act. I was reliably informed that in Weston no effort 
had been made to enforce the law, although there were many 
loafers in that city. The Mayor of the city refused to respond to 
inquiries asking for an explanation of his failure to enforce the laws. 

Grafton is another of the larger municipalities from which I have 
been unable to collect information relative to the enforcement of 
the vagrancy act. I sought to secure the data needed from both 
the mayor and chief of police. Neither responded to my request 
for information. Sistersville is another city of considerable size 
which failed to make a report. 

Other incorporated cities and towns which failed to make reports 
as requested are: Anawalt, Ansted, Avis, Bath, Belington, 
Bethany, Beverly, Bolivar, Brooklyn, Burks, Garden, Camden-on- 
Gauley, Centerville, Clark, Clendenin, Elm Grove, Eskdale, Falling 
Springs, Fayetteville, Frametown, Grantsville, Hambelton, Hamlin, 
Harrisville, Hawk's Nest, Hedgesville, Hundred, Kermit, Keyser, 
Kimball, Layopolis, Leon, Lumberport, Martinsburg, Matoaka, 
Moorefield, Newell, Oakvale, Patterson, Piedmont, Pleasant Valley, 
Princeton, Rainelle, Ranson, Reedsville, Reedy, Riverside, Siebert, 
Smithfield, South Buckhannon, Webster Springs, Wellsburg and 
Westover. ^ 



MUNICIPAL ENFORCEMENT 

In the accompanying statement of cities and towns reporting, 
Charleston shows the greatest number of arrests. I made a personal 
inspection of the docket showing 344 arrests, many of which were 
the result of the importation of laborers by employment agencies 
to the government plants in this vicinity. The chief of police 
estimated that more than 500 men had been forced into regular 
productive employment through fear of arrest. He also expressed 
the opinion that the statute was particularly effective in securing 
prosecution of persons who were known to be bootleggers, but where 
the evidence could not be secured to convict of violations of the 
prohibitory law. 

Huntington was second among the cities in the number of arrests 
made, a special drive having been made during one period of the 
year to round up the industrial slackers. 

The statement from municipalities I am submitting shows the 
activities of the larger majority of our cities and towns, but the bare 
figures in some instances do not give complete information. For 
instance, the report from Clarksburg covers only the work of the 
present city administration but Mayor Joe Creddock says it is the 
best law ever enacted. In Parkersburg the mayor advises me the 
prosecution of the offenders is before a Justice of the Peace, the 
police of the city assisting that magistrate. In Marshall County 
the sheriff and prosecuting attorney have been active in the enforce- 
ment of the law, the mayor of Moundsville, this city not shown in 
the list, reporting that the county officials are enforcing the statute. 

Peace officers who desire to enforce this statute say in their 
reports that it is not only effective in compelling idlers to find 
employment but it has also served to suppress other forms of law- 
lessness. 

Mayor Henry of Alderson who reports seven arrests says that 
the compulsory work law has practically eliminated the thief in that 
tity. 

Bayard is a typical West Virginia town of 1,200 inhabitants, in 
Grant County, where there is a large agricultural population. 
George E. Snyder, the mayor, wrote, "It forced men to go to work 
here that had not worked for years. If idle, I simply notify them 
to go to work. No one has failed to do so at once. I limit time to 
forty-eight hours for them to find employment. Best law we have 
ever had." 

J. A. Phillips of Blacksville reports that heretofore loafing has 
been four times as great as during the past year. 

"Fine law", says E. H. Smith, mayor of Ceredo, 1,300 souls, 
^'Could not do without this act. Because of it there is not a loafer 
in this town today." 

The mayor of Charles Town says that formerly the streets of that 
city were full of idlers. "Today everyone is working." 

"I think the Vagrancy Act has been productive of great good. I 
would like to see the law become a permanent law of the land. 



Idleness is the greatest of crimes. All children, male and female, 
should be taught to labor in some form of productive employment." 
— Mayor Anthony Bowen of Fairmont. 

J. W. Cox, Justice of the Peace, at Hendricks, works with Mayor 
Burley in the enforcement of the law. He is 63 years old but when 
not w^orking at his desk he is employed in other work. 

Kenova is a railroad junction point on the boundary line of three 
states. No arrests are reported but the mayor says that five or six 
men are arrested almost daily and put to work at the local industrial 
plants. 

Twenty-one men were loafing in Mount Hope when the law was 
passed. They have gone to work. Only four arrests were necessary. 

"Never repeal it," is the advice of Mayor I. L. Fordyce of Penns- 
boro. 

"Our public square is empty. It has caused several to go to 
work", says E. B. Shaffer, mayor of Philippi, a city of 2,500 in- 
habitants. 

J. II. Shock, mayor of Rosedale, Braxton County, says that too 
much leniency is shown the loafers in the county. He suggests the 
appointment of a man in each county, "to list the loafers, ascertain 
their ages and ability." 

"It rids the community of gamblers and undesirables", is the 
report of Mayor John B. Wyatt of Shinnston. 

B. Hampton Gray, of Welch, expresses the opinion in his report 
that it is a "good piece of legislation but it should be amended to 
apply to strong, healthy women as well as men. We have a large 
number of women who are doing nothing at this trying hour." 

At least a dozen mayors in their reports to the Council say the 
act should remain in force after the termination of the war. 

The figures submitted while showing patriotic efforts upon the 
part of some of our municipalities, discloses also that other cities 
and towns have been too lax in the enforcement of the compulsory 
work law. If the prosecuting attorneys of the several counties, the 
justices of the peace and the mayors of our cities and towns would 
put zeal and determination in their efforts to free the State of 
loafers, it is a certainty that every able-bodied male citizen between 
sixteen and sixty years of age would engage in lawful and productive 
employment not only for the required thirty-six hours, but would 
give a full day's work six days in the week to the production of those 
essentials necessary to maintain our fighting men in the field. These 
officials are a part of our machinery of government and they should, 
in this critical period, be most active in the enforcement of those 
statutes which have a direct bearing on the outcome of the world 
war. The Legislature has vested in these officers the responsibility 
for the execution of this specific statute. 



MUNICIPAL STATISTICS 

Herewith find a tabulated statement from cities and towns which 
submitted reports: 

Number No. Forced 
Name of Town Population Arrests to Work 



Alderson 1,600 7 35 

Athens 800 10 

Auburn 300 2 

Barboursville 1,200 15 

Bayard 1,200 20 

Beckley 4,000 2 30 

Benwood 5,000 6 6 

Blacksville 300 8 

Bluefield 15,000 20 

Bramwell .. 2,000 3 

Brandenville 60 

Bridgeport 1,500 50 

Bruceton Mills 150 6 

Buckhannon 5,000 20 

Buffalo.: 200 20 

Burnsville 1,200 12 

Cairo 700 

Cameron 2,300 6 

Cass 1,200 2 

Cassville 700 2 15 

Cedar Grove 1,000 6 

Ceredo 1,300 15 

Charles Town 3,500 5 50 

Charleston 40,000 344 500 

Chester 2 

Clarksburg 35,000 7 

Clay 500 2 

Cowen 400 1 10 

Danville 350 

Davis 3,500 10 

Durbin 300 

East Bank 700 6 

Edgewood 2,500 

Elizabeth 650 4 

Elkins 8,000 12 ....;.... 

EUenboro 275 



East Lynn 

Fairmont 18,000 33 100 

Fairview 800 1 ' 6 

Farmington 600 4 

Flatwoods 350 2 

10 



Name of Town 



Population 


Number 
Arrests 


No. Forced 
to Work 


3,500. . 




4 


100. 
275. 
1,500 


1 
1 


25 
2 


1,300 
700 


10 


350 
800. 


4 


20 


800 . 


800 


210 


400 
1,000. 


6 


30 
10 


5,000 
'2,000. 


31 


100 
3 


50,000 
550. 
200. 
250. 


100 


250 

20 

6 


500 .... 


1 000 - 


2,000 




6 . 


2,000 
1,500 


11 


30 
05 


300 . . 


1,000 
750. 
4,000 
1,200 


15 
3 


30 
5 

15 
1 


600 


1 


10 


6,000. 




1,250 


800. 




6 


1,000. 


4 


1,000 


1 
12 

1 

3 

35 


4 


3,800 


12 


800. 


25 


700. 


15 


1,000 


25 


2,165 


5 


2,500 


50 


100. 




14,000 


5 
4 
1 

3' 




3,000 


21 


3,000 


12 


800. 


50 


2,200 


3 



Follansbee 

Frankford 

Friendly 

Fulton 

Gassaway 

Glen Jean 

Glenville 

Harding 

Harpers Ferry 

Hartford 

Hillsboro 

Hendricks 

Hill Top 

Hinton 

Holliday's Cove. . . 

Huntington 

Hurricane 

Huttonsville 

Hot Coal 

Jane Lew 

Junior 

Kenova 

Keystone 

Kingwood 

Lester 

Lewisburg 

Littleton 

Logan 

Mabscott 

Madison 

Mannington 

Marlinton 

Mason City 

Masontown 

Matewan 

McMechen 

Mill Creek 

Middlebourne 

Milton 

Monongah 

Montgomery 

Montcoal 

Morgantown 

Mt. Hope 

Mullens 

Newburg 

New Cumberland. 



11 



Number No. Forced 
Name of Town Population Arrests to Work 



New Martinsville 2,800 6 

Norlhfork 500 3 5 

Oak Hill 1,000 10 

Parkersburg 23,000 16 

Parsons 2,500 15 

Paw Paw 900 6 15 

Pennsboro 2,500 15 

Petersburg 800, 



Philippi 2,500 25 

Pineville 250 3 

Pine Grove 600 4 

Pt. Pleasant 3,500 



Pratt 300 8 

Pullman 400 25 

Richwood 4,000 6 10 

Ridgeley 1,200 10 

Ripley 

Rivesville 300 3 

Romney ' 

Ronceverte 3,500 1 



Rosedale 280 7 

Rowlesburg 1,000 75 

St. Albans 2,600 6 

Salem 3,500 12 

Scarbro 3,000 8 6 

Shepherdstown 1,500 20 

Shinnston 3,000 4 25 

Sophia 200 2 15 

Spencer 1,250 

Star City 900 4 

St. Marys 2,200 6 

Summersville 400 



Sutton 1,600 2 10 

Terra Alta 1,500 1 15 

Thomas 2,400 3 12 

Thornwood 150 25 

Thurmond 500 10 

Triadelphia 600 2 4 

Troy 85 5 

Tunnelton 800 



Union 500 12 

Wardensville 200 2 

Warwood 4,500 6 20 

Wayne 500 30 

Welch 2,500 14 

West Union 1,200 5 

Wheeling 45,000 24 300 

12 



Number No. Forced 
Name of Town Population Arrests to Work 



White Sulphur Springs 1,000 2 15 

Whitmer 500 10 

Williamsburg 200 

Williamson 6,500 20 75 

Williamstown 1,300 15 

Winfield 450 



Womeldorff 300 6 

Worthington 400 6 



433,900 811 2,705 



Respectfully submitted, 

J. V. SULLIVAN, 

Secretary. 



13 



WEST VIRGINIA COMPULSORY WORK LAW 

An ACT to prevent idleness and vagrancy in West Virginia during the continuance of the war 
in which the United States is now engaged. 

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia: 

Section 1 . It is hereby declared to be the duty of every able bodied male resident of this state, 
between the ages of sixteen and sixty years, to habitually and regularly engage in some lawful, 
useful and recognized business, profession, occupation or employment whereby he may produce or 
earn sufficient to support himself and those legally dependent upon him. 

Sec. 2. From the time this act becomes effective, and thence-forward until six months after the 
termination of the present war between the United States and the Imperial German government, 
any able bodied male resident of this state between the ages of sixteen and sixty, except bona fide 
students during school term, who shall fail or refuse to regularly and steadily engage for at Isast 
thirty-six hours per week in some lawful and recognized business, profession, occupation or employ- 
ment, whereby he may contribute to the support of himself and those legally dependent upon him, 
shall be held to be a vagrant within the meaning and effect of this act, and shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars for each 
offense, and as a part of such sentence and punishment such offender shall be by the trial court 
ordered to work not exceeding sixty days upon the public roads or streets, or upon some other public 
work being done by and in the county in which such person shall be convicted, or by any munici- 
pality therein. One-half of the fair value of any such labor so performed under such sentence, shall 
be paid by the county or municipality receiving the same toward the support of any persons legally 
dependent upon such vagrant, but if there shall be no such legal dependents, then no payment shall 
be made on account of any labor performed under such judgment. Any labor so required by a 
judgment of conviction hereunder shall be rendered in all respects as is now provided by law in the 
case of other prisoners in jail. 

Prosecutions for vagrancy hereunder shall be instituted and conducted as other criminal prose- 
cutions, and in no case shall the possession by the accused of money, property or income sufficient 
to support himself and those legally dependent upon him be defense to any prosecution under this 
act. In no case shall the claim by the accused of inability to obtain work or employment be a 
defense to a prosecution hereunder, unless it shall be proved that the accused promptly notified the 
proper representative of the state council of defense of his inability to obtain employment, and 
requested that work or employment be found for him, and that such employment was not furnished 
him. 

Sec. 3. All justices of the peace, mayors and police judges within the state are hereby given 
jurisdiction to try and punish all offenders under this act, or such prosecution may be by indict- 
ment. Each week or portion thereof that such resident shall continue a vagrant hereunder shall 
constitute a separate offense, and no appeal shall be allowed from any judgment of conviction for 
vagrancy, unless the accused shall give bond, with penalty and security to be fixed and approved by 
the court granting the appeal, conditioned not to violate this act during the pendency of such appeal. 
Any judgment for the performance of labor hereunder may be suspended by the court pronouncing 
the same, upon the execution by the person convicted of a bond, with the penalty and security 
approved by the court, conditioned to comply with the provisions of this act for one year from the 
date of such bond. A violation of the condition of such last mentioned bond shall entitle the state 
to recover the amount of the penalty thereof, and in addition thereto the convicted person shall be 
rearrested and required to serve the sentence formerly pronounced against him. 

Sec. 4. For the purposes of this act any male person found in this state shall be deemed a resi- 
dent, and in any prosecution hereunder, proof that the accused habitually loiters in idleness in 
streets, roads, depots, pool rooms, hotels, stores or other public place, or that he is habitually intoxi- 
, cated, or is addicted to the use of anrcotic drugs, or is a professional gambler, or, being able bodied 
"X^a supported in whole or in part by the labor of any woman or child, shall be prima facie evidence 
of vagrancy. 

Sec. 5. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act, or any part hereof, are hereby repealed. 



14 



JURISDICTION AND DUTIES OF LOCAL OFFICERS 
(An opinion by Attorney General E. T. England.) 

June 27. 1918. 

Mr. J. V. Sullivan, 

Secretary State Council of Defense, 

Chaileston, W. Va. 

Dear Sir: 

I have before me your letter of the 19th instant, in which you refer to the Vagrancy Act of the 
Second Elxtraordinary Session of the Legislature of 1917, which requires all able-bodied citizens 
between sixteen and sixty years of age to engage in some useful, lawful and recognized business, 
profession, occupation or employment for a certain number of hours in each week; and you ask 
if it is the duty of all peace officers to enforce this act without complaint being initiated by citizens, 
you being under the impression that it is a part of their sworn duty as peace officers so to act. 

Prosecutions under the Vagrancy Act of 1917 are instituted and conducted as other criminal 
prosecutions, and justices, mayors and police judges are given jurisdiction to try and punish under 
the act. It is clearly the duty of all peace officers, and all other officers, to see that this law is en- 
forced. Any justice, mayor or police judge, or any policeman, constable or sheriff, or officer of like 
character, has the right to arrest, or cause the arrest, of any person violating any criminal statute 
in his presence, and forthwith have him tried, and punished if found guilty. You will recall that 
at common law a peace officer has no right to make arrect of a person charged with a misdemeanor, 
except upon a warrant issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, unless the offense is committed 
in his presence. If any peace officer be cognizant in his own knowledge of a violation of the vagrancy 
act, it is his duty to enforce the act without the formality of a complaint by a citizen. And it is 
equally the duty of all persons other than officers, knowing of a violation of the act, to make com- 
plaint and thus uphold the law. 

Very truly yours, 

E. T. ENGLAND. Attorney General.] 
By LIVELY 

Assistant. 



15 



iSSafiL^^iyG^ 



Q^Q ^^^•^..m^ 



